office



(No Model.)

B. M01. MOORE. ADVERTISING ELECTRICAL PHOSPHORESCENT LETTER 0R SIGN.

'No. 565,775. Patented Aug. 11, 1896.

ATTORNEY.

WITNESSES. I /NVNTOH 61.6.7? y '4 I g, 6 7AM BY v THE NORRIS rz'rz nsco, PNOTQHTND" WASHINGTON. u. c.

' UNITED STATES' ATENT FFICE.

DANIEL MCFARLAN MOORE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE MOORE ELEOTRIOALOOMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

ADVERTISING ELECTRICAL PHOSPHORESCENT LETTERS OR SIGNS.

SPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 565,77 5, dated August11, 1896.

Application filed January '7, 1895. Renewed July 1, 1896. Serial No.597,782. (No modeld To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, DANIEL McFARLAN MOORE, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of New York, county and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful I which the following is aspecification.

My invention has reference tothe productlon of characters, such asfigures or letters,

by the production, around a wire properly shaped, of an envelop of acolored luminosity.

The invention relates, further, to the mechanical construction of thedevice adapted to advertise the desired information.

Figure 1 shows one application of the inven tion. Fig. 2 is a section ofa portion of a detail of that shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 shows a side viewof a portion of that which is shown Fig. 4 is an elevation of a modifiinFig. 1. cation. Fig. 5 is a section of part of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 shows amodification.

aand b are glass plates, face to face and supported by a rubber band 0,arranged around the edges, or the plates may have recesses surrounded byprojections c, having ground surfaces which press against each other.

d is a stem extending from the space between the plates, and containsvibratory electric terminals cf, and outside of the stem is a magnet gfor vibratin g theterminals to and from each other, the magnet being inseries with the terminals in order to effect this end. Extending fromone of the terminals is a wire it, extended throughout the space betweenthe plates and bent back and forth and upon itself and in other variousdirections, so as to form letters, which may read, for example, as shownin the drawings, Phosphorescent Illuminator.

The operation consists in the vibration of the terminals e and f,producinginterruptions of the current and a consequent luminosity of thewire h. If itis desired to have an envelop around the Wire h only, thevacuum which it is necessary to produce in the space between the platesshould be continued until such a luminosity takes place. If the vacuumis further increased, the whole spacebetween the plates will beluminous, as well as the wire forming the letters. The frame 2' may beapplied to the glass plates and the samehung up by a cordj.

In Fig. 4; a door 70 of a building may be pro vided with a device likethat shown in Fig. 1, and the lettering replaced 'by figures Z, whichmay be the street-number of the house. These figures will stand out thesame as if made of light, and will be plainly visible for a considerabledistance;

In Fig. 5 is shown the reverse side of the construction by means of asection of the door. The stem 01 may extend through the door and serveto hold the plates at and h to the door. The magnet g is embedded in thedoor within inductive influence of the armature m, provided on one ofthe vibrators.

n is the generator for supplying the magnet in either one of theapplications of the inventions represented.

The plates to and I) may be held together by the frame, or, if desired,the adhesion of the plates may be effected by the pressure of the air onthe outside thereof, in view of the vacuum inside.

The effect of the light has a marked improvement if the generator nincludes in the circuit of the magnet g and of the terminals f and e aninduction-coil 0 or choking-magnet. At each interruption of theterminals the selfinduction causes a more brilliant illumination.

It should be noticed that the figures Z on the door-plate not only serveto indicate the number of the house, but the illumination pro ducedcauses them to serve as a lamp for the lighting up of the piazza, doorand bell. knobs, and other adjacent parts. This is true also of thesign-board shown in Fig. 1 in the sense that it serves as a lamp for thepurpose of illumination.

The wire it, forming the letters, may be of any length which would everbe wanted in practice. A whole sentence of words could be formed and yetthe letters would all be equally illuminated and apparently as bright asif only one letter were formed. The wire, of course, may be arranged inother forms than letters and signs, and pictures may be produced, but inthis case it is preferable, probably, to form the picture by stamping ametallic sheet in the manner of making stencils. For the sake ofillustration, this is shown in Fig. 6. The fine wire h can produceeffects, as, for instance, to represent hair in the portrait shown. Theplate is lettered 19, while the face has been stamped out. Therefore theplate 19 will be luminous and the stenciled picture will be produced,assisted by the luminous wires forming the hair.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination of an electrical conductorshaped into a letter or sign, an evacuated inclosure containing theconductor, and means for interrupting and closing the electric conductorwithin the inclosure.

2. Asign-board consisting of the combination of plates of glass closedat the edges, and having the atmosphere between the same rarefied, anelectric conductor arranged in the rarefied atmosphere in the shape ofletters or signs, electrically connected to an electric circuit, andmeans for alternately interrupting and closing the electric circuitwithin the vacuum. a I

3. A sign-board consisting of the combination of an evacuated inclosurehaving sub stantially parallel sides and a stem extending therefrom,letters or signs made of an electrical conductor and located in theinclosure, and an electric-current interrupter in the stem andelectrically connected to the letters or signs, and means for holdingthe plates together.

4. A door-plate, consisting of the combination of an evacuatedinclosure, containing a conductor, arranged in the form of figures orletters, and means within the inclosure for opening and closing thecircuit of the conductor.

5. The combination with an evacuated inclosure, of vibratory contactstherein, means for alternately opening and closing the same, and achoking-magnet included in circuit with the contacts.

6. The combination with an evacuated inclosure of a stenciled plateconnected to an electric conductor, and means for interrupt ing theconductor within the vacuum.

7. The combination with an evacuated inclosure of a stenciled plateconnected with an electriccond'uctor of one polarity Within sparkingdistancein the vacuum of a ter1ninal of the oppositepolarity.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as 1n y invention I have signedmy name, in presence of two witnesses, this 21st day of December, 1894.

D. MCFARLAN MOORE.

Witnesses:

WM. R WARREN, Y EDWARD P. THOMPSON.

